the exchange the murphy institute tulane university Volume 15, No. 1 Fall 2017 Understanding Today’s Volatile Politics IT HAS BEEN QUITE A YEAR FOR GLOBAL POLITICS. No one really predicted Britain’s vote to exit from the European Union, the election of Donald Trump in the United States, or the rebirth of populism around the globe. While The Murphy Institute does not issue official predictions, it does take pride in preparing our students and the broader community to help understand these seemingly tectonic changes to our politics. The Political Economy major—with its broad multidisciplinary approach—is an ideal setting within which to explore the background and origins of our politics. Professor Douglas Nelson’s senior seminar this year posed the big question of how we arrived in this turbulent state. What economic and political factors create our polarized politics and the seemingly never-ending economic dislocations? Does political polarization stem from changes in beliefs of the voters or has the structure of our political parties driven us in this direction? Have international trade and migration affected our economy more than the steady march of technology? Did we make the right political and institutional choices after our recent Political Economy Graduates at Tulane’s 2017 Commencement massive financial crisis? Should we have taken the BOTTOM ROW (L-R) Ethan Champagne, Rob Kellner, Jack Newell, Nathan opportunity to reduce the size of our mega financial Fowler, Jonathan O’Farrell; TOP ROW (L-R) Paige Wulff, Maya Welch, Lauren institutions? Do we need more or less regulation Sobel, Nicole Carle, Ania Marecki, Danielle Roof, Samuel Waxman of business? The students grappled with these continued on next page UNDERSTANDING TODAY’S VOLATILE POLITICS THE MURPHY INSTITUTE (continued from page 1) Core Faculty challenging issues in Professor Nelson’s capstone course, drawing on Steven M. Sheffrin, Executive Director, their knowledge and experiences from other courses in political economy. Department of Economics James Alm, Department of Economics In both his senior seminar and honor’s colloquium, Associate Director Bruce Brower, Department of Philosophy John Howard explored the past and future of social democracy. He posed Alison Denham, Department of Philosophy the question of whether the historical welfare state—which provided a Adam Feibelman, Tulane Law School foundation for active and vibrant market capitalism coupled with a social Douglas N. Harris, Department of Economics safety network—can survive the relentless pressures from global competition Ann M. Lipton, Tulane Law School for capital and the growth of new political ideologies hostile to social Eric Mack, Department of Philosophy democracy. While a return to a “golden age of capitalism” is not possible, Douglas R. Nelson, Department of Economics what reformulations of social democracy would have economic and Shu-Yi Oei, Tulane Law School political salience today? Mary K. Olson, Department of Economics Jonathan M. Riley, Department of Philosophy In addition to our classes, The Murphy Institute also provides a variety of David Shoemaker, Department of Philosophy public and scholarly forums where these ideas are debated. Our Yates Richard F. Teichgraeber III, Department of History lecture this year, delivered by Professor Giovanni Peri shortly after the Martyn P. Thompson, Department of Political Science presidential election, focused on the economics of immigration and Mark Vail, Department of Political Science dispelled many popular myths. Additionally, Professor Nelson organized a conference where leading scholars attempted to understand the apparent Staff increase in hostility to both global trade and migration. Was the response Ruth A. Carter, Program Manager of the public rational or irrational? John Louis Howard, Associate Director Margaret M. Keenan, Assistant Director, Other public lectures and conferences also explored themes relevant to our Center for Ethics and Public Affairs sense of social anxiety. Our speakers addressed the questions: What role Jinyoung Park, Assistant Director, does trust play in our social system? Are there underlying moral foundations Center for Public Policy Research for our system of business contracts that need to be re-examined? How can the principles of individualism that we hold so dear be reconciled with our commitments to family and equality? THE CENTER FOR E T H I C S AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS With today’s uncertainties, it seems now more than ever that the public is Faculty Committee seeking answers to broad foundational questions. But not all of these Bruce Brower, Department of Philosophy questions are new nor do they have easy soundbite answers. By leading our Ronna Burger, Department of Philosophy students to think through these questions, our faculty and guest speakers Richard Culbertson, School of Public Health prepare the Tulane community for arriving at their own answers and and Tropical Medicine perspectives. The Murphy Institute has been posing such questions for Alison Denham, Department of Philosophy more than thirty years now. It is our hope that current students and past Stephen Griffin, School of Law graduates alike have gained the strong intellectual background to analyze Eric Mack, Department of Philosophy the complexities of our society and its politics today. Mary K. Olson, Department of Economics Graham Owen, School of Architecture Jonathan M. Riley, Department of Philosophy Oliver Sensen, Department of Philosophy David Shoemaker, Department of Philosophy Steven M. Sheffrin, Executive Director Richard F. Teichgraeber III, Department of History August 2017 Martyn P. Thompson, Department of Political Science Richard Velkley, Department of Philosophy 2 THE EXCHANGE Fall 2017 2017 UNDERGRADUATE CENTER FOR PUBLIC PROGRAM REVIEW POLICY RESEARCH Program Directors James Alm, Department of Economics, Public Finance EVER-EXPANDING HORIZONS Douglas Harris, Department of Economics, The persistent search for fresh challenges and new perspectives is a hallmark Education Policy of our program. This quest leads our majors into various locales and Mary K. Olson, Department of Economics, Health Policy endeavors and helps prepare them for a world that is politically and Adam Feibelman, Tulane Law School, economically globalized. Regulation Policy Eleven of the eighteen graduates in the class of 2017 participated in a study abroad program or experience. ROB KELLNER ’17 and DANIELLE ROOF ’17 travelled to Cuba, studying local music, culture, and education efforts. MAYA WELCH ’17 and NATE FOWLER ’17 studied in Morocco for one EXTERNAL ADVISORY BOARD semester. DYLAN TINGLEY ’17 spent his junior year at the London School Michael McPherson (Chair), of Economics. Our students also explored the major cities of Europe: SE A N President, Spencer Foundation BR AY ’17 studied in Berlin; SAMUEL WAXMAN ’17 was in Prague; and John Ferejohn, Samuel Tilden Professor of Law, PAIGE WULFF ’17 studied in Edinburgh. New York University Geoffrey Galt Harpham, Director, Our students’ interest in European politics and economics also found a home National Humanities Center in the new Tulane chapter of the student organization European Horizons. Bonnie Honig, Sarah Rebecca Roland Professor Branded as a “student think-tank”, European Horizons has more than 42 of Political Science, Northwestern University chapters at universities across the United States and Europe. The Tulane Stephen Macedo, Laurance S. Rockefeller Professor chapter was co-founded by LAUREN SOBEL ’17, who also served as of Politics and the University Center for Human president of the Tulane chapter and Southern Regional 2016 -17 chairperson Values, Princeton University for the organization. Lauren also attended a national programming event held in Oyster Bay, New York, quickly establishing the Tulane chapter as a major presence in the organization. Many of our majors held leadership positions in the Tulane chapter, including MAYA WELCH ’17, JON AT H A N THE EXCHANGE O’FA R R ELL ’17, and JAKE WARD ’18. Line 58, Communications Consultant European Horizons at Tulane hosted a number of interesting events, all Zack Smith, Photographer arranged and coordinated by the student members. Dr. Christina Kiel of the Margaret M. Keenan, Contributing Editor Political Science Department at Tulane led a discussion on women leaders in Jinyoung Park, Contributing Writer European politics. This event was co-hosted by the Tulane student organization John Louis Howard, Contributing Writer Women in Politics, whose president this year was NICOLE CARLE ’17. There was also a roundtable discussion on the topic “How Neoliberalism Send editorial correspondence to Feeds Nationalism in the EU,” led by Dr. Mark Vail of the Political Science The Murphy Institute, 108 Tilton Hall, Department, who also teaches for our program. Tulane University, New Orleans LA 70118 Telephone: (504) 865-5317 This kind of self-motivated student effort is typical of the majors in our Facsimile: (504) 862-8755 program. They obtain a high degree of satisfaction from self-directed study and they break down the limitations of the traditional classroom as a result For questions and comments pertaining to The Murphy Institute’s Political Economy program, of this effort. OLIVIA MANZ ’17 speaks for many of our majors: “I have contact [email protected]; for those pertaining found the program extremely challenging at every point but I am thankful to both the Center for Ethics and Public Affairs and because I sought a challenging course of study.